French athletes are projected to secure between 43 and 60 medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, running from July 26 to August 11, according to an econometric model developed by sports economics experts. Curiously, however, the forecast of the economic benefits seems more uncertain.

An impact study was conducted in 2016, before the Games were awarded to Paris, by the French Center for Sports Law and Economics. It estimated the economic impact in a very broad range, from €5.3 billion to €10.7 billion, with between a quarter and a third generated by tourism. These figures need to be revised, given the inflationary crisis and the international context, according to Wladimir Andreff, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Paris' Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

Other, more up-to-date impact studies have been launched but not yet published. "This just goes to show how difficult the exercise is," summed up Lionel Grotto, managing director of Choose Paris Region, the international promotion agency for the Ile-de-France region.

A few figures provide some reference points. Construction of the Olympic infrastructure, 84% of which was completed by the end of December 2023, will eventually generate more than €4 billion in investment. Expenditure by the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Games (COJOP) will amount to nearly €4.4 billion, according to the figures used by the Court of Audit (France's national audit institution) in its report to Parliament published in January 2023.

At the end of December 2023, the COJOP (Paris 2024 Games Organizing Committee) indicated that it had already signed contracts worth €2.3 billion with around 2,200 service providers, three-quarters of which are French small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This means that "part of the economic benefits will ultimately escape French companies, in proportions that have yet to be determined," pointed out MPs Stéphane Peu (Parti Communiste Français, left-wing) and Stéphane Mazars (Renaissance, centrist), co-authors of a report published in July 2023, following a mission on the economic and associative local fabric impact of the Games.

According to Sylvain Bersinger, an economist with the consultancy Asterès, spending on the Games by French businesses should "lead to the creation of 109,000 jobs, as well as around €9.3 billion in added value." These are significant benefits, but they will be spread over several years since the construction work began well before the Games.

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